Regional Spotlight: Greater Hartford Home Prices Increase Slightly in December

RISMEDIA, Jan. 16, 2008-The median sale price of single-family homes increased .029% between November and last month (from $253,750 to $254,500) while the time required to sell a home decreased 6%, from 70 to 66 days, according to data from the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors® (GHAR).

Closed sales for single-family homes decreased 33.8%, from 736 in November to 550 in December. At the same time, pending sales and new listings both saw a decrease last month of 37.2% and 67.5%, respectively. In addition, inventory from November to December decreased from 5,562 to 4,870 (-14.2%).

Comparing December 2006 with last month, the average days a home was on the market and home inventory increased 3.13% (from 64 to 66 days) and 8.49% (from 4,489 to 4,870 homes). During this period, the median sale price of single-family homes increased 1.8% (from $250,000 to $254,000) while closed sales decreased by 33.81% (from 831 to 550 homes).

“Although fewer homes are being sold in Greater Hartford, small continued increases in the median sale price, combined with a decrease in days a home was on the market last month, indicates that there is a still a healthy pool of potential home buyers,” said Greater Hartford Association of Realtors® President and CEO Jeff Arakelian.

Despite consistent decreases in the number of mid to higher-priced homes sold from December 2006 to December 2007, this segment continues to represent the majority of sales in the region (94.2% above $140,000). Compared with December 2006, the number of homes sold in the $90,000-$99,000 range rose by 300%; while the number of homes in the $100,000-$119,000 and $120,000 and $139,000 ranges each increased by 33.33%.

Median prices for condominiums in the region for November followed a similar trend, with a 6% increase from $165,000 in December 2006 to $175,000 last month. At the same time, average days that a condominium was on the market showed an increase of 12% (from 58 to 65 days) while inventory increased 12.84% (from 1,340 to 1,512 condominiums).

On a national level, existing-home sales are expected to hold fairly steady as indicated by pending sales activity, then rise later in the year and continue to improve in 2009, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there is a back and forth exerting itself on the market. “On the one hand, we have a pent-up demand from the four million jobs added to our economy over the past two years of sales decline,” he said. “On the other, consumers continue to wait for additional signs of market stabilization. There are more people with financial capacity now than in 2005, but many are trying to market-time their purchase. As a result, the exact timing and the strength of a home sales recovery are a bit uncertain. A meaningful recovery in existing-home sales could occur as early as this spring, or it may be further delayed toward late 2008.”

For more information, call 1.860.561.1800 or visit www.gharonline.com